Systems and methods for performing payment transactions

ABSTRACT

A wearable payment device, such as a finger ring worn by a user, communicates payment data to a payment reader that uses the payment data in order to request a payment transaction. Such wearable payment device may be conveniently carried by and accessible to the user such that utilization of the payment device for the payment transaction is less burdensome for the user, thereby encouraging use of the payment device for payments. Indeed, in some cases, such as when the payment device is implemented as a finger ring or other type of jewelry, the user may be encouraged to carry the payment device in an exposed manner such that it is readily available for the payment transaction without the user having to search in a wallet, pocket, or purse.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent ApplicationNo. 63/052,937, entitled Systems and Methods for Performing PaymentTransactions” and filed on Jul. 16, 2020, which is incorporated hereinby reference.

BACKGROUND

Near field communication (NFC) devices are increasingly used in avariety of applications to communicate data. In NFC communication, afirst NFC device is positioned sufficiently close (e.g., a few inches orless) to another NFC device, such as an NFC reader, so that the devicesare inductively coupled. Load modulation is often used to communicatedata. In this regard, the reader may transmit a wireless carrier signal,and the NFC device may change the impedance of its antenna circuit inorder to modulate the carrier signal with data. Such load modulation maybe passive where the NFC device absorbs energy from the carrier signalor active where the NFC actively transmits energy at the same frequencyas the carrier signal. The reader detects and demodulates the modulatedsignal in order to recover the data.

NFC devices have been frequently used in financial payment transactionsfor effectuating a payment between a consumer and a merchant. In suchapplication, a payment device, such as a credit card, debit card, cashcard, or a smartphone, has an NFC device that communicates payment datato a payment reader of a merchant for completing a payment transaction.Such payment data may include information, such as an account number,that is used by the payment reader to generate a request for payment.The payment reader transmits such payment request to a payment serverfor approval of a payment from the consumer account identified by thepayment data to the merchant.

Since the payment data often includes sensitive information necessaryfor approval of financial payments, it is generally desirable forcommunication of the payment data to be secure and reliable. It is alsodesirable that the process for requesting payment, including the readingof payment data and initiation of the payment transaction, to beefficient and quick so as to reduce burdens on the consumer andencourage the consumer to use the payment device for the paymenttransaction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other features of the present disclosure, its nature andvarious advantages will be more apparent upon consideration of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative block diagram of a payment system inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative block diagram of a payment device andpayment terminal in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 3 depicts a ring that may be used to implement a payment device inaccordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 4 depicts an illustrative side view of a ring, such as is depictedby FIG. 3.

FIG. 5 depicts an illustrative block diagram of an electrical system,such as is depicted by FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 depicts an illustrative block diagram of circuitry for tuning anantenna of a payment device, such as is depicted by FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 depicts an illustrative block diagram of circuitry for tuning anantenna of a payment device, such as is depicted by FIG. 5.

FIG. 8 depicts an illustrative side view of a ring, such as is depictedby FIG. 3, oriented vertically during a tap of a payment reader.

FIG. 9 depicts an illustrative top view of a ring, such as is depictedby FIG. 3, oriented horizontally during a tap of a payment reader.

FIG. 10 depicts an illustrative perspective view of ring being worn by auser during a tap of a payment reader.

FIG. 11 depicts an illustrative perspective view of ring being worn by auser during a tap of a payment reader.

FIG. 12 depicts an illustrative perspective view of ring being worn by auser during a tap of a payment reader.

FIG. 13 depicts an illustrative top view of an antenna for use in aring, such as is depicted by FIG. 3.

FIG. 14a depicts an illustrative top view of a metallic shell for aring, such as is depicted by FIG. 3.

FIG. 14b depicts an illustrative side view of the metallic shelldepicted by FIG. 14 a.

FIG. 15 depicts an illustrative perspective view of a metallic shellthat may be used as an antenna for a ring, such as is depicted by FIG.3.

FIG. 16 depicts an illustrative block diagram of circuitry for use in apayment device to harvest energy and perform active load modulation withthe same antenna.

FIG. 17 is a top view of conventional payment reader that is tapenabled.

FIG. 18 is a top view of a payment reader that is tap enabled and has amarker for guiding a user in performing a tap by a small payment device,such as a wearable payment device.

FIG. 19 is a top view of a payment reader having a small antennapositioned within a larger antenna for use in communicating with a smallpayment device, such as a wearable payment device.

FIG. 20 depicts an illustrative block diagram of an electrical system,such as is depicted by FIG. 4, using an NFC antenna for passive loadmodulation and another NFC antenna for active load modulation.

FIG. 21 shows a plurality of switches connected to taps of the antennashown by FIG. 16 for selectively shorting stages of the antenna.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure generally pertains to systems and methods forperforming financial payment transactions. In some embodiments of thepresent disclosure, a wearable payment device, such as a finger ringworn by a user, communicates payment data to a payment reader that usesthe payment data in order to request a payment transaction. Suchwearable payment device may be conveniently carried by and accessible tothe user such that utilization of the payment device for the paymenttransaction is less burdensome for the user, thereby encouraging use ofthe payment device for payments. Indeed, in some cases, such as when thepayment device is implemented as a finger ring or other type of jewelry,the user may be encouraged to carry the payment device in an exposedmanner such that it is readily available for the payment transactionwithout the user having to search in a wallet, pocket, or purse.

FIG. 1 depicts an illustrative block diagram of a payment system 1 thatutilizes NFC communication in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure. In one embodiment, the payment system 1 includes apayment device 10, payment terminal 20, network 30, and payment server40. In an exemplary embodiment, payment server 40 may include aplurality of servers operated by different entities, such as a paymentservice system 50 and a bank server 60. These components of paymentsystem 1 facilitate electronic payment transactions between a merchantand a customer.

The electronic interactions between the merchant and the customer takeplace between the customer's payment device 10 and the merchant'spayment terminal 20. The customer has a payment device 10, such as acredit card having a magnetic stripe, a credit card having anexternally-driven processing device such as an EMV chip, or anNFC-enabled electronic device, such as a smartphone running a paymentapplication or a wearable electronic device (e.g., a finger ring orother item of jewelry). Other types of payment devices 10, such aswearable payment devices, are possible as will be described in moredetail below. The merchant has a payment terminal 20 such as a merchantdevice, payment reader, standalone terminal, combined customer/merchantterminals, electronic device (e.g., smartphone) running a point-of-saleapplication, or other electronic device that is capable of processingpayment information (e.g., encrypted payment data and userauthentication data) and transaction information (e.g., purchase amountand point-of-purchase information).

In some embodiments (e.g., for low-value transactions or for paymenttransactions that are less than a payment limit indicated by the paymentdevice 10), the initial processing and approval of the paymenttransaction may be processed at payment terminal 20. In otherembodiments, payment terminal 20 may communicate with payment server 40over network 30. Although payment server 40 may be operated by a singleentity, in one embodiment payment server 40 may include any suitablenumber of servers operated by any suitable entities, such as a paymentservice system 50 and one or more banks of the merchant and customer(e.g., a bank server 60). The payment terminal 20 and the payment server40 communicate payment and transaction information to determine whetherthe transaction is authorized. For example, payment terminal 20 mayprovide encrypted payment data, user authentication data, purchaseamount information, and point-of-purchase information to payment server40 over network 30. Payment server 40 may determine whether thetransaction is authorized based on this received information as well asinformation relating to customer or merchant accounts, and respond topayment terminal 20 over network 30 to indicate whether or not thepayment transaction is authorized. Payment server 40 may also transmitadditional information such as transaction identifiers to paymentterminal 20.

Based on the information that is received at payment terminal 20 frompayment server 40, the merchant may indicate to the customer whether thetransaction has been approved. In some embodiments, approval may beindicated at the payment terminal, for example, at a display device of apayment terminal. In other embodiments such as a smartphone or awearable payment device, information about the approved transaction andadditional information (e.g., receipts, special offers, coupons, orloyalty program information) may be provided to the NFC payment devicefor display at a screen of the smartphone or wearable payment device(e.g., a watch having an electronic display for displaying time andother information) or storage in memory.

FIG. 2 depicts an illustrative block diagram of payment device 10 andpayment terminal 20 in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Although it will be understood that payment device 10 andpayment terminal 20 of payment system 1 may be implemented in anysuitable manner, in one embodiment the payment terminal 20 may comprisea payment reader 22 and a merchant device 29 (either or which may be anNFC device as will be described in more detail below). However, it willbe understood that as used herein, the term payment terminal may referto any suitable component of the payment terminal, such as paymentreader 22. In an embodiment, the payment reader 22 of payment terminal20 may be a device that facilitates transactions between the paymentdevice 10 and a merchant device 29 running a point-of-sale application.

In one embodiment, payment device 10 may be a device that is capable ofcommunicating with payment terminal 20 (e.g., via payment reader 22),such as an NFC device 12 or an EMV chip card 14 (which also may be anNFC device capable of communicating with the payment reader 22 via NFC).Chip card 14 may include a secure integrated circuit that is capable ofcommunicating with a payment terminal such as payment terminal 20,generating encrypted payment information, and providing the encryptedpayment information as well as other payment or transaction information(e.g., transaction limits for payments that are processed locally) inaccordance with one or more electronic payment standards such as thosepromulgated by EMVCo. In some embodiments, chip card 14 may include anEMV chip that is an externally-driven processing device that receivessignals necessary to operate the EMV chip (e.g., power, ground, andclock signals) from an external source. Chip card 14 may include contactpins for communicating with payment reader 22 (e.g., in accordance withISO 7816) and in some embodiments, may be inductively coupled to paymentreader 22 via a near field 15. A chip card 14 that is inductivelycoupled to payment reader 22 may communicate with payment reader 22using load modulation of a wireless carrier signal that is provided bypayment reader 22 in accordance with a wireless communication standardsuch as ISO 14443. When the payment device 10 is implemented as awearable payment device, it may similarly include an EMV chip or othertype of electronics for communicating payment data, as described in moredetail herein.

NFC device 12 may be an electronic device such as a smartphone ortablet. NFC device may be wearable electronic device, such as asmartwatch or other item of jewelry (e.g., a finger ring 52) that iscapable of engaging in secure transactions with payment terminal 20(e.g., via communications with payment reader 22). NFC device 12 mayhave hardware (e.g., a secure element including hardware and executablecode) and/or software (e.g., executable code operating on at least oneprocessor in accordance with a host card emulation routine) forperforming secure transaction functions. During a payment transaction,NFC device 12 may be inductively coupled to payment reader 22 via nearfield 15 and may communicate with payment terminal 20 by active orpassive load modulation of a wireless carrier signal provided by paymentreader 22 in accordance with one or more wireless communicationstandards such as ISO 14443 and ISO 18092.

Although payment terminal 20 may be implemented in any suitable manner,in one embodiment payment terminal 20 may include a payment reader 22and a merchant device 29. The merchant device 29 runs a point-of-saleapplication that provides a user interface for the merchant andfacilitates communication with the payment reader 22 and the paymentserver 40. Payment reader 22 may facilitate communications betweenpayment device 10 and merchant device 29. As described herein, a paymentdevice 10 such as NFC device 12 or chip card 14 may communicate withpayment reader 22 via inductive coupling. This is depicted in FIG. 2 asnear field 15, which comprises a wireless carrier signal having asuitable frequency (e.g., 13.56 MHz) emitted from payment reader 22.

In one embodiment, payment device 10 may be a contactless payment devicesuch as NFC device 12 or chip card 14, and payment reader 22 and thecontactless payment device 10 may communicate by modulating the wirelesscarrier signal within near field 15. In order to communicate informationto payment device 10, payment reader 22 changes the amplitude and/orphase of the wireless carrier signal based on data to be transmittedfrom payment reader 22, resulting in a wireless data signal that istransmitted to the payment device. This signal is transmitted by anantenna of payment reader 22 that is tuned to transmit at 13.56 MHz, andif the payment device 10 also has a suitably tuned antenna within therange of the near field 15 (e.g., 0 to 10 cm), the payment devicereceives the wireless carrier signal or wireless data signal that istransmitted by payment reader 22. In the case of a wireless data signal,processing circuitry of the payment device 10 is able to demodulate thereceived signal and process the data that is received from paymentreader 22.

When a contactless payment device 10 is within the range of the nearfield 15, it is inductively coupled to the payment reader 22. Thus, thepayment device 10 is also capable of modulating the wireless carriersignal via active or passive load modulation. By changing the tuningcharacteristics of the antenna of payment device 10 (e.g. by selectivelyswitching a parallel load into the antenna circuit based on modulateddata to be transmitted) the wireless carrier signal is modified at boththe payment device 10 and payment reader 22, resulting in a modulatedwireless carrier signal. In this manner, the payment device 10 iscapable of sending modulated data to payment reader 22.

As described, the payment device 10 in some embodiments may be wearable,such as jewelry or devices that may be attached to or embedded inclothing. FIG. 3 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a finger ring 52that may be used as a payment device 10. The use of a finger ring 52 tobe worn on a finger of a user is exemplary, and it should be emphasizedthat the concepts described hereafter for the ring 52 may be applicableto other types of payment devices 10, including in particularnon-wearable payment devices, such as chip cards, and other types ofwearable payment devices, such as other types of jewelry or devices thatmay be attached to clothing. As an example, similar configurations andtechniques may be used for other types of jewelry, including but notlimited to other types of jewelry that form rings (e.g., bracelets andwrist watches).

As will be described in more detail hereafter, the ring 52 has variouscircuitry and sensors for performing various actions and monitoringvarious events as will be described in more detail below. In thisregard, referring to FIG. 4, the ring 52 comprises a mold 55 having atleast one cavity into which an electrical system 58 is inserted. In someembodiments, the electrical system 58 comprises a flex printed circuitboard (“flex PCB) (not specifically shown) on which various electricalcomponents (e.g., circuitry and sensors) are positioned. The cavity ofthe mold 55 may be sealed during manufacturing so that the mold 55 iswaterproof, thereby preventing water from reaching electrical componentsthat could be shorted or otherwise damaged by water. Further, the mold55 may be composed of an insulating material, such as plastic, and themold 55 may be coupled to a shell 63 that extends along an exteriorsurface of the mold 55.

The mold 55 and shell 63 form an inner ring and outer ring,respectively, where the shell 63 surrounds and protects the mold 55 thatis positioned within the shell 63. In some embodiments, the shell 63 iscomposed of a metallic material, such as gold, silver, or platinum,though other types of materials for the shell 63 are possible in otherembodiments. When the shell 63 is composed of an electrically conductivematerial, the shell may 63 form part of the electrical circuitry of thering 52. As an example, as will be described in more detail below, theshell 63 may be used as an antenna for wirelessly transmitting orreceiving signals. Illustrative configurations of rings having embeddedelectronics and illustrative methods for making such rings are describedin U.S. Pat. No. 9,861,314, entitled “Wearable Electronic Device andMethod for Manufacturing Thereof” and issued on Jan. 9, 2018, which isincorporated herein by reference.

FIG. 5 depicts an exemplary embodiment of the electrical system 58. Asshown by FIG. 5, the electrical system 58 may comprise control circuitry72 for generally controlling the operation of the system 58, as will bedescribed in more detail below. The control circuitry 72 may beimplemented in hardware or any combination of hardware, software, andfirmware. As an example, the control circuitry 72 may comprise one ormore processors for executing software and/or firmware for performingfunctions of the ring 52 described herein. The control circuitry 72 mayalso include hardware components, such as field-programmable gate arrays(FPGAs) or application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), forperforming any of the described functions.

As shown by FIG. 5, the system 58 may have one or more sensors 77 forsensing various types of parameters or events. The exemplary embodimentof FIG. 5 shows three sensors 77 for simplicity of illustration, but thesystem 58 may have any number of sensors 77 in other embodiments. As amere example, the sensors 77 may include one or more temperature sensorsfor sensing the temperature of an object, such as the user, a componentof the ring 52, or ambient air. The sensors 77 may include one or moreaccelerometers and/or gyroscopes for sensing movement of the ring 52.One or more of the sensors 77 may also be configured to sense variousphysiological parameters of the user, such as the user's pulse. Othertypes of sensors are also possible.

As further shown by FIG. 5, the system 58 may include a power source 81for providing electrical power to other components of the system 58. Asan example, the power source 81 may comprise at least one battery 83and/or at least one capacitor 84 for storing electrical charge. In someembodiments, the battery 83 may be rechargeable. Further, the system 58may have a harvesting antenna 88 (e.g., a coil) for harvesting energyfrom the environment, such as from a magnetic field generated by areader or other device, and providing the harvested energy to the powersource 81 for replenishing energy in the battery 83 and/or capacitor 84.As shown by FIG. 5, the harvesting antenna 88 may be coupled to thepower source 81 through a switch 89 controlled by the control circuitry72.

The system 58 may also comprise a plurality of transceivers 91-92 andantennas 96-97 for enabling wireless communication with devices externalto the ring 52. The system 58 shows two transceivers 91-92 and twoantennas 96-97 for simplicity of illustration, but the system 58 mayhave any number of transceivers and any number of antennas in otherembodiments. In one embodiment, the transceiver 91 and antenna 96 areconfigured to communicate wireless signals in one frequency range, andthe transceiver 92 and antenna 97 are configured to communicate wirelesssignals in another frequency range. As an example, in one embodiment,the transceiver 91 is configured to communicate NFC signals via antenna96 and, for illustrative purposes, will be referred to hereafter as “NFCtransceiver.” In some embodiments, the frequency of such wireless signalis centered at about 13.56 Mega-Hertz (MHz). However, the transceiver 91may be used to communicate other types of signals and NFC signals atdifferent frequencies in other embodiments. In one embodiment, thetransceiver 92 is configured to communicate Bluetooth signals (orsignals in accordance with another short-range protocol) via antenna 97and, for illustrative purposes, will be referred to hereafter as“short-range transceiver.” In some embodiments, the frequency of suchwireless signal is centered at in a range from about 2.402 Giga-Hertz(GHz) to about 2.480 GHZ. However, the transceiver 92 may be used tocommunicate other types of signals and signals at other frequencies inother embodiments. FIG. 5 shows the transceivers 91-92 using differentantennas 96-97, but in some embodiments, the transceivers 91-92 may beconfigured to use the same antenna, if desired.

In some embodiments, the short-range transceiver 92 is configured tocommunicate wirelessly with a mobile device 100, such as a smartphone,that is typically carried by the user. Such mobile device 100 mayprovide a convenient way for a user to interact with the ring 52. Inthis regard, a payment application or other type of application on themobile device 100 may display a graphical user interface (GUI) throughwhich a user may interact with the ring 52. In this regard, such GUI maydisplay information received from the short-range transceiver 92 andreceive inputs from the user to be transmitted to the ring 52 viashort-range transceiver 92. In other embodiments, the short-rangetransceiver 92 may communicate with other types of devices.

The short-range transceiver 92 may be used to communicate information,such as data sensed by the sensors 77, with an external device (e.g.,the mobile device 100). As a mere example, the sensors 77 may monitorphysiological parameters of the user and transmit such parameters to themobile device 100, which may track and display various health parametersor statistics based on the information from the ring 52.

The NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96 may be used to wirelesslycommunicate with the payment reader 22, such as transmitting paymentdata for a payment transaction. In this regard, the ring 52 may storethe payment data 56 in memory 58. When the ring 52 is positionedsufficiently close to the payment reader 22 to be within the magneticfield generated by the reader 22, the NFC transceiver 91 may use activeor passive load modulation to communicate the payment data 56 to thepayment reader 22.

During the transaction, the mobile device 100 may be used to interfacewith the user. As an example, if the payment transaction requires theuser to enter a valid personal identification number (PIN), the controlcircuitry 72 may be configured to transmit a prompt for the user's PINto the mobile device 100 via the short-range transceiver 92 and antenna97. The user may enter his or her PIN to the mobile device 100, whichthen transmits such PIN to the ring 52. The short-range transceiver 92may receive the PIN, and the control circuitry 72 may include the PIN aspart of the payment data 56 transmitted to the payment reader 22 via theNFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96.

In another example, the user may be requested to approve the paymentrequest. As an example, the payment reader 22 may transmit details ofthe payment transaction, such as the amount of payment to be requested.This information may be received by the NFC transceiver 91 andtransmitted to the mobile device 100 by the short-range transceiver 92.The mobile device 100 may display the information to the user and promptthe user to confirm that the request for payment in the amount indicatedis approved. Upon receiving such confirmation by the user, the mobiledevice 100 may transmit an approval of the payment request to theshort-range transceiver 92. Upon receiving such approval, the controlcircuitry 72 may transmit the payment data 56 to the payment reader 22in order to initiate the payment transaction. Various other types ofinformation regarding the payment transaction may be communicated by thering 52 in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, use of the mobile device 100 for paymenttransactions is unnecessary, and it is possible to use the ring 52 inother ways during a payment transaction. As an example, it is possiblefor the ring 52 to communicate payment data 56 with the payment reader22 during a payment transaction without communicating with the mobiledevice 100. Information about the payment transaction received from thepayment reader 22, such as whether the payment transaction is approvedor the amount of the payment, may be stored in the ring 52 and accessedat a later time by the mobile device 100 or other device. In someembodiments, payment data 56 to be communicated to the payment reader22, such as an account number or other identifier of a financial accountto be used for the payment and information related to such account(e.g., a PIN or other authentication information) may be stored in themobile device 100 and accessed by the ring 52 during or prior to thepayment transaction. As an example, when the ring 52 is placed withinthe magnetic field of the payment reader 22, the control circuitry 72 inresponse to detection of the magnetic field may communicate with themobile device 100 via the short-range transceiver 92 to retrieve thestored payment data 56 and then communicate the payment data 56 to thepayment reader 22 via the NFC transceiver 91. In yet other embodiments,other interactions between the ring 52 and the mobile device 100 arepossible.

In some embodiments, the antennas 88, 96, 97 may be positioned withinthe within the mold 55 such that the shell 63 extends around theantennas 88, 96, 97 and affects their communication performance. As anexample, when the mold 55 is positioned within the shell 63 duringmanufacturing, the presence of the shell 66 may slightly change theimpedance of the antennas 88, 96, 97. Further, the impedances of theantennas 88, 96, 97 may be affected by various other factors, such astemperature and whether a finger or other object passes through the ring52. As an example, the impedance of an antenna 88, 96, 97 may slightlychange when a user puts on or takes off the ring 52. The controlcircuitry 72 may be configured to tune any of the antennas 88, 96, 97after manufacturing in an effort to account for these impedancefluctuations. Such tuning may occur periodically or at various times asmay be desired, such as when a change or event occurs (e.g., a userputting on or taking off the ring 52). The tuning may also be triggeredby the detection of a magnetic field of a payment reader 22. As anexample, when the magnetic field is detected, the NFC antenna 96 may betuned prior to communication with the payment reader 22 in an effort toimprove the quality of communication between the ring 52 and the paymentreader 22 during the payment transaction. Tuning of an antenna 88, 96,97 may be performed at various other times as may be desired.

FIG. 6 depicts an embodiment of circuitry for tuning the NFC antenna 96.In the embodiment shown by FIG. 6, the control circuitry 72 comprises atleast one processor 112, a feedback circuit 115, a plurality impedancecontrol elements (ICEs) 118, and a plurality of switches 121, such asfield effect transistors (FETs). The feedback circuit 115 is configuredto measure one or more characteristics (e.g., impedance, voltage,current, or phase difference) of the NFC antenna 96 indicative of itsperformance and to provide information indicative of the measuredcharacteristic to the processor 112, which uses this information to tunethe antenna 96 as will be described in more detail below. As an example,the feedback circuit 115 may have a sensor (not specifically shown) formeasuring a voltage of the antenna 96 and a sensor (not specificallyshown) for measuring a current consumed by the antenna 96. For example,if the ring 52 is configured to communicate with a payment reader 22 viapassive load modulation, the feedback circuit 115 may be configured totake a measurement when the magnetic field of the payment reader 22 issensed. The feedback circuit 115 may provide the measured voltage and/orcurrent to the processor 112. Alternatively, the feedback circuit 115may calculate a value (e.g., the impedance of the antenna 96) using themeasured voltage and current, and send the calculated value to theprocessor 112. In yet other embodiments, the feedback circuit 115 maymeasure the phase difference between the voltage and current of theantenna 96, and the processor 112 may be configured to adjust theimpedance of the antenna 96 in an effort to minimize this phasedifference. Yet other parameters measured by the feedback circuit 115and different techniques for determining how to adjust the impedance ofthe antenna 96 are possible.

To enable tuning of the NFC antenna 96, a plurality of impedance controlelements 118 are coupled to the antenna 96. Specifically, each impedancecontrol element 118 is coupled to the NFC antenna 96 at a respectivepoint on the antenna, referred to as a “tap.” Each impedance controlelement 118 is configured to affect the overall impedance and, thus,performance of the antenna 96 based on whether it is electricallycoupled to the antenna 96. As an example, each impedance control element118 may be one or more capacitors or inductors that are selectivelycoupled to the antenna 96 based on the states of switches 121. In thisregard, the power source 81 is coupled to each impedance control element118 through a respective switch 121. Further, for each impedance controlelement 118 to be electrically coupled to the antenna 96, the processor112 is configured to transition the element's switch 121 to a closedstate to allow current to flow through the switch 121. Based on thefeedback from the feedback circuit 115, the processor 112 is configuredto determine how the impedance of the antenna 96 should be adjusted inorder to tune the antenna 96 to a desired impedance. The processor 112is configured then to control the states of the switches 121 such thatimpedance of the antenna 96 is adjusted closer to the desired value. Inthis regard, by closing a switch 121 such that current flows through theswitch 121, the impedance control element 118 coupled to the switch 121is energized by the power source 81 such that it provides a capacitanceor inductance that changes the impedance of the antenna 96. Afteradjusting the antenna's impedance, the processor 115 may receivefeedback indicative of the antenna's adjusted impedance and determinewhether any further adjustments are desired to tune the antenna 96further.

Note that the use of switches 121 is unnecessary, and other techniquesfor adjusting the impedance of the antenna 96 are possible. As anexample, rather than selectively energizing the impedance controlelements 118, the processor 112 may be configured to apply a variablevoltage to the impedance control elements 118 in order to change theircapacitances or inductances in order to adjust the impedance of theantenna 96 as may be desired. Various other changes to the illustrativeconfiguration shown by FIG. 6 are possible in other embodiments.

In some embodiments, other techniques may be used to tune the antenna96. For example, rather than tuning the antenna 96 based oncharacteristics measured when the ring 52 is within the magnetic fieldof a reader, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to control theNFC transceiver 91 to cause it to actively drive the antenna 96, andwhile the antenna 96 is being actively driven by the transceiver 92, theperformance of the antenna 96 may be assessed to determine whether toadjust its impedance. This technique may be used, for example, if theNFC transceiver 91 is configured to perform active load modulation sincethe transceiver 91 is designed to drive the antenna 96 in normaloperation for such an embodiment. However, this technique can also beused in an embodiment in which the transceiver 92 is configured tocommunicate with the payment reader 22 using passive load modulation.

FIG. 7 depicts an embodiment in which the NFC transceiver 91 isconfigured to communicate with the payment reader 22 using passive loadmodulation, but the antenna 96 is actively driven by the ring 52 fortuning. In this regard, the NFC transceiver 91 is electrically coupledto the power source 81 through a switch 125. When tuning is not beingperformed, the switch 125 is normally in an open state such that currentdoes not flow through the switch 125, and passive load modulation may beused for communication between the ring 52 and a payment reader 22 usingthe NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96. However, when the processor 112determines that tuning is to be performed, the processor 112 isconfigured to transition the switch 125 to a closed state such thatcurrent flows through the switch 125. The NFC transceiver 91 isconfigured to use current from the power source 81 to drive the antenna96 (e.g., wirelessly transmit a signal from the antenna 96). During thistime, the feedback circuit 115 is configured to measure at least onecharacteristic indicative of the antenna's performance, and based onthis feedback, the processor 112 may be configured to controlenergization of the impedance control elements 118 to adjust theimpedance of the antenna 96, as described above. Once the antenna 96 hasbeen appropriately tuned, the processor 112 may transition the switch125 back to the open state such that the NFC transceiver 91 and, thus,antenna 96 are electrically isolated from the power source 81. In suchstate, the NFC transceiver 91 may be configured to perform passive loadmodulation when the ring 52 is positioned within the magnetic field of apayment reader 22.

As noted above, there are various techniques that may be used to assessthe performance of the antenna 96 and, based on such assessment,determine how to adjust the impedance of the antenna 96. In oneembodiment, the processor 112 as part of the tuning process may controlthe NFC transceiver 91 to sweep across a range of frequencies whileactively transmitting. For example, the NFC transceiver 91 may transmitvia the antenna 91 at a certain frequency, and the feedback circuit 115may take a measurement, such as a measure of the frequency response(e.g., voltage and current) of the antenna 96. The NFC transceiver 91may then adjust (e.g., increase or decrease) the transmitted frequency,and the feedback circuit 115 may take another measurement. This processmay be repeated any number of times to take any number of data points(e.g., frequency responses at different frequencies), which collectivelydefine the frequency response of the antenna over a range offrequencies. Based on this frequency response, the processor 112 may beconfigured to tune the antenna 96. Yet other techniques for tuning theantenna 96 in other embodiments are possible.

Note that similar or the same techniques described herein for tuning theantenna 96 may also be used to tune other antennas of the ring 52, suchas the antenna 97 used by the short-range transceiver 92 for wirelesscommunication. As an example, the antenna 97 may be coupled to circuitrysimilar that shown by FIG. 6 for antenna 96 for adjusting the impedanceof the antenna 97. Further, the short-range transceiver 92 may beconfigured to drive the antenna 97, and measurements of one or morecharacteristics indicative of the performance of the antenna 97 may befed back to the processor 112, which may then adjust the impedance ofthe antenna 97 as described above for the antenna 96. As an example, theprocessor 112 may adjust the impedance of the antenna 97 and, based onfeedback from the mobile device 100, determine when the impedance of theantenna 97 is optimum. For example, the processor 112 may find animpedance state for the antenna 97 that provides a maximum RSSI or aminimum number of errors, as will be described in more detail below. Yetother techniques for using feedback information from the mobile device100 to assess the performance of and tune the antenna 97 are possible inother embodiments.

Notably, the characteristics measured by the mobile device 100 may beaffected by movement of the mobile device 100 and/or ring 52. As anexample, if the ring 52 and mobile device 100 are moved further apart,higher errors and lower RSSI can be expected. Thus, while tuning, it maybe difficult to determine whether a change in the feedback isattributable to an adjustment of the impedance of the antenna 97 orrelative movement of the ring 52 and mobile device 100. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 72 is configured to identify a timeperiod when relative movement of the mobile device 100 and ring 52 isnot occurring or is not likely to occur. The control circuitry 72 thenperforms tuning during such time period.

There are various techniques that can be used to determine when relativemovement of the ring 52 and mobile device 100 is not occurring or is notlikely to occur. As an example, the processor 112 may monitor one ormore sensors 77 for detecting movement of the ring 52, such asaccelerometers or gyroscopes, to determine whether movement isoccurring. The mobile device 100 similarly may have sensors for sensingmovement of the mobile device 100, such as accelerometers andgyroscopes, and the mobile device 100 may report measurements of thesesensors to the ring 52. When the processor 112 determines that no oronly small movements of the ring 52 and mobile device 100 have occurredfor at least a predefined amount of time, such as several minutes orlonger, the processor 112 may determine that movement between the ring52 and the mobile device 100 is unlikely. In response, the processor 112may initiate a tuning process for tuning the antenna 97 based oncommunication between the antenna 97 and the mobile device 100. In someembodiments, the processor 112 may determine when the user is sleepingand perform a tuning process while the user is determined to besleeping. As an example, the processor 112 may determine when the useris sleeping based on physiological characteristics measured by thesensors 77, such as the user's pulse, and initiate tuning of the antenna97 in response to such determination. In yet other embodiments, othertechniques for determining when to tune the antenna 97 are possible.

As noted above, communication between the short-range transceiver 92 andthe mobile device 100 or other device may be used to assess theperformance of the antenna 97. As an example, the short-rangetransceiver 92 may be configured to wirelessly transmit a signal to themobile device 100 via the antenna 97. The mobile device 100 may beconfigured to measure a parameter indicative of the performance of theantenna 97, such as a quality of the signal transmitted by the antenna97. For example, the signal may include cyclic redundancy check (CRC)information, and the mobile device may use such information to determinea number of errors in the signal transmitted by the antenna 97. Inanother example, the mobile device 100 may determine a received signalstrength indicator (RSSI) indicative of the signal strength or amplitudeof the signal received from the antenna 97. Yet other parametersindicative of the quality of the received signal may be determined inother embodiments.

After determining information indicative of the quality of the receivedsignal, the mobile device 100 may transit such information as feedbackto the ring 52, and the processor 112 may use this feedback informationto tune the antenna 97, similar to the techniques described above forthe antenna 96.

In some embodiments, decisions about whether and when to tune an antennamay be based on several factors, including an amount of available energyin the power source 81. As an example, at least one sensor 77 may beconfigured to sense an amount of power in the power source 81, such asthe charge level of the battery 83, for example. If the sensed level ofenergy is above a threshold, then the control circuitry 72 may beconfigured to enable tuning, as described above. However, if the sensedlevel of energy is below a threshold, then the control circuitry 72 maybe configured to disable tuning and/or reduce the rate that tuning isperformed so that power is conserved.

As noted above, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to initiate apayment transaction in response to the ring 52 being positioned in themagnetic field of a payment reader 22. In some cases, the ring 52 may beheld in the magnetic field of the reader 22 for an extended time,thereby enabling longer communication between the reader 22 and the ring52. As an example, it is possible for the ring 52 to be held within themagnetic field and, thus, able to communicate with the payment reader 22sufficiently long to receive an indication whether the initiated paymenttransaction has been approved by the appropriate financial institution.However, in other examples, holding the ring 52 in the magnetic fieldfor an extended time is unnecessary.

For example, some payment devices 10 are designed to enable a type ofpayment, sometimes referred to as “tap to pay” or “payment tap,” wherethe payment device 10 is positioned within the reader's magnetic fieldfor a relatively short time, such as just long enough to lightly tap thepayment device 10 on the reader 22, though physical contact between thereader 22 and the payment device 10 is not actually required. The ring52 may be configured to enable this type of payment, referred tohereafter simple as a “tap” or a “tapping” of the ring 52.

Regardless of the type of payment transaction being performed, thering's orientation during the payment transaction relative to thepayment reader 22 may affect the communication performance between thering 52 and the reader 22, particularly for passive load modulation. Asan example, in some cases, the user may initiate a payment transactionby tapping the ring 52 while the ring 52 remains on his or her finger.In such an embodiment, the ring 52 is likely to be positionedsubstantially vertical relative to the reader 22 where the plane of thering 52 is substantially perpendicular to the surface of the reader 22being tapped (i.e., the surface closest to the ring 52 at the time oftapping), as shown by FIG. 8, thereby enabling the ring 52 to bepositioned close to the reader 22. However, in other cases, the user mayremove the ring 52 from his or her finger for the payment transactionand position the ring by hand in any of various orientations. As anexample, while holding the ring 52 between two or more fingers orotherwise holding the ring 52 in another manner, the user may tap thering 52 such that it is oriented substantially vertically as shown byFIG. 8 or substantially horizontally as shown by FIG. 9. Other angles ofthe ring 52 relative to the reader 22 are possible in yet otherembodiments. In some cases, the user may be instructed to orient thering 52 in a certain way (e.g., substantially vertical or horizontal)during the tap in order to keep the orientation and performance of thering 52 substantially consistent from one tap to another.

To assist with achieving consistent ring orientation during a tap, theuser may perform the tap in a certain way. As an example, if the ring 52is to remain on the user's finger, then the user may perform the tapwith his or her hand oriented vertically while the ring 52 makes contactwith the reader 22, as shown by FIG. 10. In another example, the usermay perform the tap palm down where the user's palm makes contact withthe reader 22, as shown by FIG. 11. In another example, the user maybend his or her fingers to form a fist and contact with his or herknuckles as shown by FIG. 12. Various other types of hand orientationsmay be performed for other types of taps.

In some cases, the user may make certain predefined hand gestures whilewearing the ring 52 or make other movements of the ring 52 as inputs tobe used in the payment transaction. As an example, just beforeperforming a tap, the user may wave his or her hand or perform anothertype of hand gesture to signify that a payment is authorized, therebypreventing inadvertent payments when the ring 52 is unintentionallymoved into the magnetic field of a payment reader 22. In this regard,one or more sensors 77, such as accelerometers or gyroscopes, may beused to detect the predefined hand gesture. If such hand gesture isdetected within a certain window of the tap (e.g., a certain amount oftime before the tap), then the control circuitry 72 may be configured toperform a payment transaction in response to the tap. If such a handgesture is not sensed within the window, then the control circuitry 72may be configured to refrain from performing the payment transaction,assuming that the tap is not authorized (e.g., is unintentional).

In other examples, other inputs may be received via hand gestures orother movements of the ring 52. As an example, during a paymenttransaction the payment reader 22 or other device may be configured todisplay the amount of the payment, and the user may confirm such amountby performing one type of hand gesture (e.g., a vertical hand wave) orreject such amount by performing a different type of hand gesture (e.g.,a horizontal hand wave). Some hand gestures or other types of ringmovements may change the amount of the payment, such as adding a tip. Asan example, after the initial tap of the ring 52, each wave of theuser's hand or additional tap of the ring 52 may indicate a desire toadd a tip of a certain percentage of the original payment amount. Forexample, if each additional tap adds a 5% tip, the user may tap the ring52 three additional times if he or she desires to add a 15% tip. In somecases, a change to the orientation of the ring 52 may indicate certaininput for the payment transaction, such as accepting or declining apayment amount or changing the payment amount (e.g., adding a tip). Asan example, 90 degree rotation (e.g., from a vertical orientation to ahorizontal orientation or vice versa) may indicate a certain input forthe payment transaction. As previously indicated, the sensors 77 mayinclude gyroscopes, accelerometers, and/or other sensors for detectingmotion in order to sense the occurrences of the actions (e.g., handgestures) to be interpreted as payment inputs.

In some cases, an input may be provided prior to the initial tap of thering 52 for a payment transaction. When the control circuitry 72 detectsa motion of the ring 52 indicative of an input (e.g., a predefined handgesture or removal of the ring 52 from the user's finger), the controlcircuitry 72 may begin tracking time using a clock (not shown). If a tapof the ring 52 occurs within a predefined time period of the sensedmotion, then the control circuitry 72 may interpret the motion as aninput for use in the payment transaction. If a tap of the ring 52 doesnot occur within the predefined time period, the control circuitry 72may ignore the sensed motion and not use it as an input for the paymenttransaction. In such a situation, it is possible that the user made themotion without the intent of using it as input to the next paymenttransaction.

In some cases, an input may be provided after the initial tap of thering for a payment transaction. When the control circuitry 72 detects aninitial tap of the ring 52 indicative of an input, the control circuitry72 may begin tracking time using a clock (not shown). If a sensed motionof the ring 52 (e.g., a predefined hand gesture) occurs within apredefined time period of the initial tap, then the control circuitry 72may interpret the motion as an input for use in the payment transaction.If sensed motion of the ring 52 does not occur within the predefinedtime period, the control circuitry 72 may ignore the sensed motion andnot use it as an input for the payment transaction. In such a situation,it is possible that the user made the motion without the intent of usingit as input to the payment transaction. If the sensed motion is madewhile the ring 52 is no longer in the magnetic field of the paymentreader 22, then the user may perform an additional tap so that the inputcan be communicated as appropriate to the reader 22 for the paymenttransaction. Further, the hand motion being performed between twoconsecutive taps of the ring 52 where the two taps occur within apredefined window of time may indicate that the hand gesture or otherring movement occurring between the two taps is intended as an input forthe payment transaction. That is, the control circuitry 72 may beconfigured to interpret a predefined movement as a certain input for thepayment transaction if it occurs within a predefined window of a tap ofthe ring 52 and is within two consecutive taps. Other techniques forconfirming a particular motion of the ring 52 as an input for thepayment transaction are possible in other embodiments.

As noted above, the impedance and, thus, performance of the antenna 96may be affected by whether the ring 52 is positioned on the user'sfinger. As used herein, a ring 52 is “positioned” or “worn” on theuser's finger when a finger of the user passes through the ring 52 suchthat the ring 52 is secured to the finger without the user having togrip or otherwise hold the ring 52 with other fingers. Further, in anembodiment for which the ring 52 is to be removed from the user's fingerto perform a payment transaction, the removal of the ring from theuser's finger may signify that a payment transaction is about to occur.Thus, once removal of the ring 52 is detected, the control circuitry 72may be responsive to the removal of the ring 52 for performing a tuningof the antenna 96 in order to help ensure that such antenna 96 isproperly tuned prior to commencement of the payment transaction that isabout to occur. In some cases, the tuning may be performed by thecontrol circuitry 72 before the ring 52 is positioned within themagnetic field of the payment reader 22. As an example, the antenna 96may be actively driven with energy from the power source 81 in order toperform the tuning, as described above. In other examples, the tuningmay be performed by the control circuitry 72 after the ring 52 ispositioned within the magnetic field of the payment reader 22. As anexample, the feedback circuit 115 may measure the voltage of the antenna96 and the current consumed by the antenna 96 (or other parametersindicative of antenna performance) while being driven by the carriersignal from the reader 22. Once the tuning is performed, the ring 52 maythen perform active or passive load modulation of the carrier signal tocommunicate data to the payment reader 22.

Note that there are various techniques that may be used to detect whenthe ring 52 is inserted onto the user's finger. As an example, a sensor77 may be a proximity sensor to sense when an object, such as a finger,is close to the sensor 77. In another example, one of the sensors 77 maybe configured to sense a pulse of the user. If such a pulse is detected,the control circuitry 72 may determine that the ring 52 is on a fingerof the user. Once the pulse is no longer detected over at least apredefined time interval, the control circuitry 72 may determine thatthe ring 52 has been removed from the user's finger.

In addition to sensing when the ring 52 is being worn, the informationfrom one or more sensors may be used to authenticate the user who iswearing the ring 52 for payment transactions. As an example, it isgenerally known that a user's pulse has unique characteristics that canbe used to identify him or her. In some embodiments, the pulse sensed bya sensor 77 is used to authenticate the user. That is, if the user isidentified as an authorized user for performing payment transactions,then the control circuitry 72 is configured to enable payments. Whenpayments are so enabled, the ring 52 may be configured to automaticallyinitiate or approve a payment transaction when the ring 52 is positionedwithin the magnetic field of a payment reader 22. However, if the useris not authenticated, then the control circuitry 72 may be configured todisable payments. When payments are so disabled, the control circuitry72 is configured to refrain from initiating or approving a paymenttransaction when the ring 52 is positioned within the magnetic field ofa payment reader 22. Thus, if the ring 72 is moved to the magnetic fieldof a payment reader 22 when payments are disabled, no payment occursuntil the user can provide sufficient authentication to establishhimself or herself as an authorized user for payment transactions.

As noted above, for at some payment transactions, the user may removethe ring 52 from his or her finger and tap the ring 52 or otherwiseposition the ring 52 within the magnetic field of a payment reader 22while the ring 52 is still removed from his or her finger. In such anembodiment, if the user wearing the ring 52 prior to its removal isauthenticated, then the ring 52 is configured to communicate with thepayment reader 22 for the purpose of performing a payment transaction.However, for security purposes, such enablement of a payment afterremoval of the ring 52 may last for a predefined time period, such asabout one minute or other amount of time, from removal of the ring 52from the user's finger. Such amount of time is preferably sufficient forthe user to tap the reader 22 or otherwise use the ring 52 to interactwith the reader 22 sufficiently to perform the payment transaction.However, once the payment transaction is performed or the predefinedamount of time elapses without an occurrence of a payment transaction,the control circuitry 72 is configured to disable payments until theuser is again authenticated, such as when the user puts the ring 52 backon the his or her finger. Disabling payments after elapsing of thepredefined time period may prevent an unauthorized user from using thering 52 to make an authorized purchase. For example, if the ring 52 isdropped or lost by the authorized user, another user who finds the ringand attempts to use the ring 52 to make a payment after the predefinedtime period should be prevented from using the ring 52 for the payment.

Note that the antenna 96 used for NFC may have any of a variety ofshapes and configurations. In some embodiments, the antenna 96 may bepositioned underneath the shell 63, such as within the mold 55. In thisregard, the antenna 96 may form an open loop, as shown by FIG. 13 sizedsuch that the user's finger is able to pass through the loop when thering 52 is being worn on the user's finger. In some embodiments, theantenna 96 may form a multi-turn coil rather than a single loop. In someembodiments, the metallic shell 63 may be configured to function as theantenna 96. Note that either of the antennas 88 or 97 may be configuredto form an open loop as described above with respect to antenna 96. Asan example, the antenna 96 may be formed by the shell 63 and wrap aroundthe user's finger, as described above, while an antenna 88 or 97 formsan open loop or a spiral within the mold and also wraps around theuser's finger. Although it is unnecessary for any of the antennas towrap around the user's finger.

FIG. 14 shows an embodiment of a shell 63 that has a conductive portion212 and an insulator 214 that separates one end 218 of the conductiveportion 212 from the opposite end 219 of the conductive portion 212. Thepresence of the insulator 214 allows the shell 233 itself to form aclosed loop while the conductive portion 212 forms an open loop, therebyimproving the communication performance of the antenna defined by theshell 63. In some embodiments, an air gap may exist between the ends218, 219 instead of an insulator 214 in order to provide the break orseparation in the loop formed by the conductive portion 212. Further,even if the shell 63 is not electrically connected to the transceiver 91for use as its antenna, the presence of the metallic loop formed by theshell 63 may degrade the communication performance of the transceiver 91and its antenna 96. By configuring the shell 63 to break or interruptthe conductive path, as shown by FIG. 14, so that the metallic portionof the shell 63 does not form a complete loop (i.e., a closed loop), thecommunication performance of the NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96 maybe improved.

In some embodiments, the communication performance between the NFCantenna 96 and the payment reader 22 may be improved by positioning theantenna 96 so that it is closer to the payment reader 22 during a tapthan the metallic shell 63, assuming that the metallic shell 63 is notbeing used as the antenna 96 (e.g., is not electrically coupled to theNFC transceiver 91).

FIG. 15 depicts an embodiment of a shell 63 having a conductive portion242 that is spiraled in order form multiple turns that can improve thecommunication performance of the shell 63 when the shell 63 is used asan antenna for the NFC transceiver 91. That is, the spiraled conductiveportion 242 of the shell 63 forms a multi-turn antenna for wirelesslytransmitting signals. In FIG. 16, the transceiver 91 may make electricalcontact with the spiraled conductive portion 242 at connection points 1,2. In the embodiment of FIG. 15, the conductive portion has jewels 252(e.g., diamonds) positioned thereon in an attempt to improve theaesthetic appearance of the shell 63. The use of such jewels 252 isunnecessary, and it is also unnecessary for pads to be used as theconnection points for the transceiver 91.

Note that the use of active load modulation may have various benefits,including enhancing communication quality and reducing size requirementsfor the antenna 96 used for NFC. In passive load modulation, thetransceiver 91 essentially adjusts its impedance to change the amount ofenergy it absorbs from the carrier signal transmitted by the reader 22.That is, the transceiver 91 modulates the carrier signal by essentiallyloading and unloading it, and the reader 22 senses the fluctuations ofthe carrier signal. Thus, the receiver sensitivity is limited by theamount energy that the transceiver 91 can load and unload from thereader 22. However, in active load modulation, the transceiver 91actively transmits energy to be added or subtracted from the readerantenna. Thus, the transceiver 91 essentially sends energy to the reader22 to modulate the carrier signal rather than absorbing energy from it.Thus, the receiver sensitivity can be significantly higher for activeload modulation, thereby enabling the size of the antenna 96 to bereduced while still achieving comparable signal quality relative topassive load modulation. Indeed, by using active load modulation, thesize of the antenna 96 may be sufficiently small such that the coil usedfor the antenna 96 does not need to wrap around the user's fingerthereby conserving space for other components, such as antenna 88 or 97,which may wrap around the user's finger.

While the use of active load modulation for NFC may help improvecommunication performance and/or reduce the size of the antenna 96, italso requires power from the power source 81, potentially limiting thelife of components of the power source 81, such as battery 83. In someembodiments, the harvesting antenna 88 (FIG. 5) may be used to provideenergy to the power source 81 potentially increasing the useful life ofat least some components of the power source 81.

To increase the amount of energy that may be harvested, the impedance ofthe harvesting antenna 88 may be optimized for harnessing energy fromthe environment, and the harvested energy may be provided to the powersource 81 for use in powering components of the ring 52, such as forexample performing active load modulation with the NFC transceiver 91and antenna 96 or driving an antenna for tuning, as further describedabove. In some embodiments, the harvesting antenna 88 is optimized forharnessing energy from the magnetic field generated by payment readers22. Thus, when the ring 52 is moved into the magnetic field of a paymentreader 22 for the purpose of initiating a payment transaction (e.g., atap) or other reason, the harvesting antenna 88 may harvest energy fromthe magnetic field and supply such energy to the power source 81.

When the ring 52 uses active load modulation to communicate with thepayment reader 22, drawing energy from the magnetic field through theharvesting antenna 88 may degrade the communication occurring betweenthe ring 52 and the payment reader 22. Thus, in some embodiments, thecontrol circuitry 72 is configured to control the energy harvesting andthe communication for the payment transaction such that they do notoccur simultaneously.

As an example, when the ring 52 enters the magnetic field of a paymentreader 22, the magnetic field is detected by the control circuitry 72,and in response, the control circuitry 72 controls the switch 89 suchthat it is in a closed state, thereby permitting energy harvested by theharvesting antenna 88 to pass through the switch 89 to the power source81. Note that the switch 89 may be in the closed state prior to the ring52 entering the magnetic field of the payment reader 22. In addition,while the switch 89 is in the closed state and energy is being harvestedby the harvesting antenna 88, the control circuitry 72 disables thetransceiver 91 from driving the NFC antenna 96. This may be performed inseveral ways. In one embodiment, the transceiver 91 is coupled to thepower source 81 through switch 125, as shown by FIG. 7, and the controlcircuitry 72 controls the switch 125 such that it is in an open state.

After a period of time and while the ring 52 is still in the magneticfield of the reader 22, the control circuitry 72 disables energyharvesting by the antenna 88 and then enables the NFC transceiver 91 todrive the antenna 96 to perform active load modulation for communicatingpayment data 56 to the payment reader 22. As an example, the controlcircuitry 72 may transition the switch 89 to an open state, therebypreventing the power source 81 from receiving energy from the harvestingantenna 88, and then transition the switch 125 (FIG. 7) to a closedstate, thereby enabling the NFC transceiver 91 to actively drive theantenna 96 with energy from the power source 81. That is, the controlcircuitry 72 disables energy harvesting by the antenna 88 and enablesactive load modulation by the transceiver 91 and antenna 96.

Note that the timing of the transition from energy harvesting to NFC maybe controlled in a variety of ways. In one embodiment, the processor 112is configured to begin tracking time via an internal clock (not shown)or otherwise once the magnetic field of the reader 22 is detected. Aftera predefined time from such detection, the processor 112 is configuredto transition the ring 52 from energy harvesting to NFC by controllingthe switches 89 and 125, as described above. Such time period can beselected to be sufficiently long such that the power source 81 is likelysufficiently charged to perform active load modulation of the paymentdata 56 but sufficiently short such that the ring 52 is likely to remainin the magnetic field of the reader 22 for a sufficient amount of timeto communicate with the reader 22 for the payment transaction, assumingthat a normal tap is being performed.

Once the payment data for the payment transaction has been communicatedto the payment reader 22 via active load modulation, the controlcircuitry may disable the NFC transceiver 91 from actively driving theantenna 96 and enable the harvesting antenna 88 to provide energy to thepower source 81. As an example, the control circuitry 72 may transitionthe switch 125 (FIG. 7) to an open state and then transition the switch89 to a closed state.

In the embodiment described above, separate antennas are used for energyharvesting and NFC. In some embodiments, the same antenna may be usedfor both energy harvesting and NFC considering that both of theseactions do not simultaneously occur in the instant embodiment. FIG. 16shows an embodiment for which the same antenna 96 is used for bothenergy harvesting and NFC. In this regard, the NFC antenna 96 is coupledto impedance control elements 118 through switches 121 for controllingthe impedance of the antenna 96, as described above for FIG. 6. Further,the NFC antenna 96 is coupled to the power source 81 through a switch250 that permits energy to flow from the antenna 96 to the power source81 when the switch 250 is in the closed state.

During operation, the processor 112 may be configured to enable energyharvesting and disable active load modulation by controlling the switch250 to be in a closed state and the switch 125 to be in an open state,as described above. While in this state, the processor 112 is furtherconfigured to control the impedance of the NFC antenna 96 via theimpedance control elements 118 such that the antenna 96 is optimized forenergy harvesting. As an example, the processor 112 may control theswitches 121 to selectively couple one or more of the impedance controlelements 118 to the antenna 96 such that the NFC antenna 96 has a firstimpedance optimized for enhancing energy harvesting.

As described above, to transition the ring 52 from energy harvesting toNFC for communication of payment data, the switch 125 may betransitioned to a closed state, and the switch 250 may be transitionedto an open state. Upon so transitioning the mode of the ring 52, theprocessor 112 may adjust the impedance of the NFC antenna 96 so that itis optimized for NFC. In this regard, the processor 112 may control theswitches 121 in order to change which of the impedance control elements118 are electrically coupled to the antenna 96, thereby changing theimpedance of the NFC antenna 96. Thus, during energy harvesting, the NFCantenna 96 may have a first impedance that is tuned for optimization ofenergy harvesting, and during NFC, the NFC antenna 96 may have a secondimpedance that is tuned for optimization of NFC.

Note that the same antenna 96 may be used for both energy harvesting andNFC communication in a similar manner when the NFC transceiver 91 isconfigured for passive modulation. The operation of the circuitry isessentially the same as described above, except that providing of powerfrom the power source 81 may be unnecessary since the NFC transceiver 91is not actively driving the antenna 96. In such embodiment, when energyharvesting is to occur, the processor 112 may enable energy harvestingby closing the switch 250 and disable the NFC transceiver 91 fromattempting to perform passive load modulation. When NFC is to occur, theprocessor 112 may disable energy harvesting by opening the switch 250and enable the NFC transceiver 91 to perform passive load modulation.Various techniques for enabling/disabling energy harvesting andenabling/disabling load modulation are possible, and the use of switches250, 125 is unnecessary in other embodiments.

It should be noted that energy harvesting does not necessarily have tobe from power received by a payment reader 22. As an example, the ring51 may be moved in close proximity to a charging station (not shown)that provides a wireless signal for charging the power source 81. It isunnecessary for the charging station to perform NFC, paymenttransactions, or otherwise communicate with the ring 52. As an example,the user may use the charging station to recharge the power source 81 ashe or she sleeps. Further, the frequency of the wireless energy from thecharging station may be different than the frequency used by a paymentreader 22 for NFC.

To assist with optimizing an NFC antenna 96 or other type of antenna foruse to harvest energy, it may be desirable to effectively change thesize of the antenna 96. The size of the antenna 96 can be effectivelychanged by shorting out portions of the antenna 96, thereby reducing theimpedance of the antenna 96. As an example, refer to FIG. 21, whichdepicts an antenna 96 having a plurality of stages 301-303. Each stage301-303 may comprise a coil having any number of turns. Between eachstage 301-303 is a respective tap 306, 307 that is connected to arespective switch 308, 309 (e.g., a FET) that may be electricallycoupled to and operate under the control of the processor 112 (FIG. 16).When each of the switches 308, 309 are open so that no current flowsthrough the switches 308, 309, the size of the antenna 96 includes allof the stages 301-303. That is, each stage 301-303 contributes to thetotal impedance of the antenna 96. However, the switches 308, 309 may beselectively controlled to change the effective size of the antenna 96.For example, the switch 309 may be closed to short out the stage 303,thereby removing the impedance of this stage 303 from the antenna 96 andeffectively changing the size of the antenna 96. Further, the switch 308may be closed to short out the stages 302, 303, thereby removing theimpedance of these stages 302, 303 from the antenna 96 and effectivelychanging the size of the antenna 96. Notably, impedance control elements118 may also be coupled to various taps of the antenna 96, as shown byFIG. 16, to enable further tuning of the antenna 96. Thus, the overallimpedance and performance of the antenna 96 can be significantly alteredby the processor 112 by controlling the states of the switches 121 (FIG.16) and switches 308, 309 (FIG. 21), thereby enabling the same antenna96 to efficiently function for different purposes, such as energyharvesting in one example and NFC (or other type of communication) inanother example.

In various embodiments described above, the ring 52 is described ashaving an NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96 for communicating with apayment reader 22 using NFC and also having a short-range transceiver 92and antenna 97 for communicating with the mobile device 100 usingBluetooth or some other short-range protocol. In some embodiments, theuse of a short-range transceiver 92 and antenna 97 is unnecessary. As anexample, the mobile device 100 may be configured to communicate via NFC,and the NFC transceiver 91 and the antenna 96 may be used to communicatevia NFC with the payment reader 22 and the mobile device 100, therebyeliminating the need of having a separate short-range transceiver 92 andantenna 97. In such an embodiment, the ring 52 may operate as describedherein for any of the embodiments except that communication with themobile device 100 occurs through the NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96rather than the short-range transceiver 92 and antenna 97.

The ring 52 may be used for various types of financial accounts, such ascredit card accounts, debit card accounts, and cash card accounts. Eachof these accounts may be associated with certain spending properties,such as credit limits or spending caps. As shown by FIG. 6, the ring 52may store data 275, referred to hereafter as “spending properties data,”indicative of the spending properties for one or more financial accountsassociated with the ring 52. During a payment transaction, the paymentreader 22 may communicate information about the payment transaction tothe ring 52, and the control circuitry 72 may compare such informationto the spending properties data 275 to determine whether the paymenttransaction is permitted based on the spending properties indicated bythe data 275. For example, if the purchase price exceeds a limitindicated by the spending properties data 275, the control circuitry 72may decline the payment transaction such that a payment is noteffectuated.

Note that the spending properties data 275 may also indicate the type ofpayment transaction that is to be performed, such as a credit cardtransaction, debit card transaction, or cash card transaction. In somecases, the spending properties data 275 and payment data 56 may includeinformation only for a single financial account. In other cases, thespending properties data 275 and payment data 56 may include informationfor multiple financial accounts, and the control circuitry 72 may beconfigured to select one of the financial accounts based on inputsreceived at the time of the payment transaction, such as predefined handgestures or other predefined movements of the ring 52 or inputs receivedfrom the mobile device 100.

In addition, rather than storing actual account information in thepayment data 56, such as the account number of a financial account to beused for payments, it is possible to store tokens associated with thefinancial accounts, thereby preventing unauthorized users to obtainvalid account information from the information stored in the ring 52. Inthis regard, a token stored in the ring 52 may be associated at a serverwith valid account information, including an account number of afinancial account. When a tap occurs with the ring 52, the token may becommunicated by the ring 52 to the payment reader 22, which may forwardthe token to the aforementioned server that determines, based on thetoken, the associated financial account information to be used for thepayment. A payment request for the amount of the purchase may then besent to a payment server of the issuing financial institution.

In some embodiments, the ring 52 may employ one or more processes forselecting or assisting the user in selecting a financial account to beused for a payment. For example, the spending properties data 275 mayinclude user preferences indicating which financial account the userdesires to use for certain scenarios. If the control circuitry 72 iscapable of identifying a scenario for which the user prefers a specificaccount, then the control circuitry 72 may be configured toautomatically select the preferred account, and use such account for apayment transaction.

As an example, the financial institution providing a financial accountmay provide certain rebates or benefits for using the account at acertain type of merchant, such as a gas station or restaurant. Whenmaking a payment at such a merchant, the user may prefer to use a firstfinancial account that offers such rebates or benefits but use adifferent financial account for purchases at different types ofmerchants. In some embodiments, the control circuitry 72 is configuredto identify a merchant type associated with a payment transaction andcompare the merchant type to the user preferences stored in the spendingproperties data 275. If the spending properties data 275 indicates thatthe user prefers a specific financial account for the identifiedmerchant type, then the control circuitry 72 is configured to use suchfinancial account for the payment. If desired, before selecting thefinancial account for payment, the control circuitry 72 may communicatewith the mobile device 100 via the short-range transceiver 92 andantenna 97 requesting the user to confirm selection of this financialaccount for payment. If the user so confirms, then the control circuitry72 selects the financial account for the payment transaction beingperformed. Thus, the control circuitry 72 helps to facilitate thetransaction by reducing the burden on the user to identify whichfinancial account is to be used for payment.

Note that there are a variety of techniques that may be used to identifythe type of the merchant involved in the payment transaction. In someembodiments, the merchant type may be communicated to the ring 52 by thepayment reader 22 via NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96 during a tap ofthe reader 22 by the ring 52. In other embodiments, the location of theuser wearing the ring 52 may be used to identify merchant type. As anexample, the mobile device 100 may have a software application, such asGoogle Maps™, defining a geographic map indicative of geographiclocations of merchants and indicating the merchant type associated witheach merchant. The mobile device 100 may also have a location sensor,such as global positioning system (GPS) sensor, for determining alocation of the mobile device 100. A software application on the mobiledevice 100 for interacting with the ring 52 may be configured to comparethe location of the mobile device 100, as determined form the locationsensor, to merchant locations indicated by the map to determine the typeof merchant at or near the user's location at the time of a paymenttransaction. Information indicative of the merchant type may becommunicated by the mobile device 100 to the ring 52 via the short-rangetransceiver 92 and antenna 97, and the control circuitry 72 may use themerchant type information to select a financial account for payment, asdescribed above.

In some cases, the identification of the merchant type may be triggeredby an event associated with the payment transaction, such as when thereader 22 is tapped by the ring 52. In this regard, when the controlcircuitry 72 detects the magnetic field of the reader 22, the controlcircuitry 72 may communicate with the mobile device 100 to request themerchant type information described above. Alternatively, the mobiledevice 100 may be configured to track the user's movements and notifythe ring 52 when the mobile device 100 determines that the user hasentered the premises of a new merchant so that the merchant typeinformation is already known to the ring 52 at the time of the tap.

In addition, there may be other rules for selecting financial accountsbased on geographic location. For example, the user may provide inputsfor indicating different geographic regions where he or she prefers touse a specific financial account. If the user is within such a region atthe time of initiation of a payment transaction, the control circuitry72 may be configured to select the financial account that is associatedwith such region for the payment transaction. Yet other techniques fordetermining when to communicate merchant type information to the ring 52are possible in other embodiments.

It is also possible for the control circuitry 72 to select a financialaccount for payment based on other information associated with thepayment transaction, such as the purchase amount. For example, thespending properties data 275 may include a threshold that is used toselect a financial account. If the purchase amount is below thethreshold, then the control circuitry 72 may be configured to select afirst financial account for the payment transaction. However, if thepurchase amount is above the threshold, then the control circuitry 72may select a different financial account of the payment transaction.Note that the different financial accounts may have different spendingproperties and/or security measures. For example, the financial accountselected when the purchase amount is below the threshold may not requirethe user to enter a PIN or provide other inputs. However, the financialaccount selected when the purchase amount is above the threshold mayrequire the user to enter a valid PIN or provide some other input toconfirm the transaction or authenticate the user.

Note that it is possible for functions described herein as beingperformed by the control circuitry 72 to be performed, at least in someembodiments, by the mobile device 100 and vice versa. As an example, inthe above embodiment in which the mobile device 100 determines itslocation and the merchant type associated with the payment transaction,it is possible for control circuitry 72 to perform this function.However, having the mobile device 100 perform various functionsdescribed herein helps to reduce the data, power, and size requirementsof the ring 52.

If desired, the spending properties data 275 and payment data 56 may beupdated from time-to-time. For example, credit limits or spending capsmay be changed or financial accounts may be added to or removed from thedata 275, 56. Updates for changing the spending properties data 275 maybe transmitted from a server of a financial institution through themobile device 100 to the ring 52. In this regard, each financial accountindicated by the spending properties data 275 and payment data 56 may beassociated with a software application stored on the mobile device 100,and this software application may be used to communicate between themobile device 100 and ring 52 for such financial account. For example,the software application may display a customized GUI for the financialaccount that can be used by a user to provide any of the inputs orreceive any of the outputs described herein for the associated financialaccount. The software application also may be configured to communicatewith a payment sever of the financial institution through the Internetand/or other types of networks, and when an update to the spendingproperties data 275 and/or payment data 56 is desired, the server maycommunicate the update through the software application of the mobiledevice 100 to the ring 52.

Further, when a new financial account is to be added, the mobile device100 may be used to download a software application for the financialaccount, and this software application may communicate with ring 52 inorder to store spending properties data 275 and payment data 56 relatedto the financial account in the memory 58, thereby enabling the ring 52to be used for a payment transaction associated with that financialaccount. Thus, the financial accounts and the spending propertiesrelated to the financial accounts may be updated as desired over time.

As for any payment device 10 that is used for making financial payments,it is generally desirable to implement security features to ensure thata payment transaction is authorized and is not being mistakenly orfraudulently performed. It is possible for the mobile device 100 to beused to implement at least some security measures. As an example, themobile device 100 may be used to authenticate a user and/or receive theuser's approval of a payment transaction. Such authentication and/orapproval may be communicated to the ring 52, which uses this informationto perform a payment transaction. However, for convenience andexpediency, it may be desirable to implement at least some securitymeasures through the ring 52 without requiring manual input through themobile device 100.

As an example, rather than using the mobile device 100 to authenticatethe person wearing the ring 52, the ring 52 may be configured toauthenticate the user based on the sensors 77, such as a sensor fordetecting the user's pulse. Such authentication may be used to unlockthe ring 52 for the purposes of performing a payment transaction. Thatis, the ring 52 may remain locked for the purposes of paymenttransactions unless the ring 52 can authenticate the user wearing thering 52 at the time of a given payment transaction. In otherembodiments, other techniques may be used to authenticate the user.Further, in some embodiments, at least some payments may be authorizedwithout user authentication, such as payment transactions associatedwith a payment amount below a predefined threshold.

As noted above, the ring 52 may be configured to sense certainmovements, such as hand gestures, and interpret these movements asinputs. Such hand gestures may be used to authenticate the user in atleast some embodiments. In this regard, the user may manually tap acertain predefined code into the ring 52 by using his or her fingertipor other object to lightly touch the ring in a certain pattern (e.g.,similar to Morse code). In this regard, the sensors 77 may includeaccelerometers that sense vibrations from each tap so that the controlcircuitry 72 can detect the pattern tapped into the ring 52 by the user.If the pattern matches a predefined pattern associated with the ring 52for a financial account to be used for a payment transaction, then thecontrol circuitry 72 may authenticate the user for purposes ofperforming the payment transaction. In some embodiments, such tapping bythe user on the ring 52 may be used for other types of inputs, such asapproval of a purchase amount, selection of a financial account to beused for a payment transaction, or any other input described herein.

In addition, at least some outputs associated with a payment transactionmay be provided through the ring 52. In this regard, as shown by FIG. 5,the electrical system 58 may include at least one output device 288 forproviding outputs to a user. In one embodiment, the output device 288may be a haptic device that briefly vibrates to notify the user of anoccurrence of an event, such as a tap of the ring 52 on a payment reader22 or confirmation that a payment has been requested or approved. Insome embodiments, the output device 288 may be an optical device, suchas a light emitting diode (LED) or some other type of light source, forproviding a visible output. As an example, the output device 288 mayblink light or otherwise generate light temporarily to notify the userof an occurrence of an event, such as a tap of the ring 52 on a paymentreader 22 or confirmation that a payment has been requested or approved.Notably, any of the user inputs or outputs described for the ring 52 mayalternatively be received from or communicated to a user through themobile device 100, if desired.

To better illustrate some of the concepts described above, assume that auser desires to use the ring 52 to make a financial payment, such as topurchase a good or service. The payment reader 22 may receiveinformation about the payment transaction, such as the amount of paymentand any other merchant information that may be required for approval ofa financial payment. As an example, the payment reader 22 may be coupledto or otherwise communicate with a merchant device 29 (FIG. 2) that isused to provide the payment reader 22 with details regarding the paymenttransaction.

To make the desired purchase, the user may approach the payment reader22 and tap the ring 52 on the payment reader 22. That is, the user mayposition the ring 52 sufficiently close to the reader 22 such that thering 52 is within the magnetic field generated by the reader 22. Themagnetic field (which is centered at a certain frequency, such as about13.56 MHz) is detected by the control circuitry 72, and in response, thecontrol circuitry 72 performs various actions for initiating a paymentrequest, as will be described in more detail below.

In this regard, if the user has been sufficiently authenticated, thecontrol circuitry 72 retrieves from memory 58 payment data 56 for thepayment transaction, such as the account number of the financial accountto be used for the payment and any information required for approval ofthe payment by the associated financial institution. Using active orpassive load modulation, the control circuitry 72 transmits the paymentdata 56 to the payment reader 22 using the NFC transceiver 91 an antenna96. Upon receiving such payment data, the payment reader 22 maycommunicate to the ring 52 an acknowledgment of the reception of thisdata. In response to this acknowledgement, the control circuitry 72 mayprovide feedback to the user, such as an output (e.g., haptic or visualfeedback) via the output device 288, thereby informing the user that apayment has been requested.

Based on the payment data 56 from the ring 52 and the purchaseinformation received from the merchant, the payment reader 22 may form arequest for payment and transmit the request to a payment server of thefinancial institution associated with the financial account being usedfor payment. After approving or declining the payment, the paymentserver of the financial institution transmits to the merchant anotification indicating whether the payment is approved or declined. Ifthe ring 52 remains in communication with the reader 22 after thepayment has been approved or declined, information indicating whetherthe payment has been approved may be transmitted by the reader 22 to thering 52. In response to this information, the control circuitry 72 mayprovide feedback to the user, such as output (e.g., haptic or visualfeedback) via the output device 288, thereby informing the user whetherthe payment request has been approved.

Alternatively, feedback indicating when a payment has been requested orwhether the payment has been approved may be provided to the userthrough the mobile device 100. As an example, the ring 52 may beconfigured to communicate such information to the mobile device 100,which then provides the notifications to the user. Alternatively, suchnotifications may be transmitted by the payment reader 22, the merchantdevice 29, or the payment server of the financial institution to themobile device 100 using Bluetooth and/or one more networks, such as theInternet and/or a cellular network.

In various embodiments described above, the ring 52 has been describedin the context of making financial payments. However, other uses of thering 52 are possible. As an example, the ring 52 may use the NFCtransceiver 91 or the short-range transceiver 92 to communicate withother types of readers, such as readers that are used for trackingemployees or other personnel or controlling access to certain physicalareas. As an example, the ring 52 may store a user identifier thatidentifies the user wearing the ring 52. Such user may bring the ring 52sufficiently close to a reader to enable communication with the reader.The ring 52 may then communicate the user identifier to the reader,which then uses the user identifier for any of various purposes. As anexample, the reader may use the user identifier to authenticate the userfor various purposes, such as permitting the user to enter a restrictedarea. In this regard, if the user is authenticated, the reader may causea door to the restricted area to be unlocked so that the user may usethe door to enter the restricted area. In another example, the readermay have a user output device, such as display, that provides an output(e.g., a visual indication that the user is authorized to enter anarea). This indication may then be used to permit entry of the user toan area.

As an example, a particular entertainment event or venue, such as aconcert or a bar, may be ticketed (i.e., require a ticket purchase to bepermitted entry at the event or venue). The ring 52 may be used topurchase a ticket to the event or venue according to the techniquesdescribed above for making a payment transaction. Once the paymenttransaction is complete, the payment reader 22 or other device maycommunicate with the ring 52 to transmit an authorization code that canbe used to establish the user's permission to enter the event or venue.That is, rather than issuing a physical ticket to the event or venue,the user may be provided with an electronic ticket in the form of anauthorization code that may be used authenticate the user as permittedto enter the event or venue.

In such an example, a reader may be positioned near the entrance of theevent or venue. The user may tap the reader or otherwise bring the ring52 sufficiently close to the reader so that the ring 52 is in themagnetic field of the reader. In response to the magnetic field and/or aquery from the reader, the authorization code previously stored in thering 52 may be transmitted from the ring 52 to the reader, which usesthe authorization code to determine whether the user is permitted toenter the event or venue. An output indicative of such determination maybe provided (e.g., displayed) to a bouncer or other person at theentrance responsible for controlling ingress to the event or venue.Based on such output, the bouncer or other person may permit the user ofthe ring 52 to enter the event or venue.

Note that it is unnecessary for the user to use the ring 52 to purchasethe ticket. As an example, upon purchasing the ticket, the user may beprovided a ring 52 to use for the purpose of obtaining entry to theevent or venue according to the techniques described above.

In other examples, a user identifier communicated by the ring 52 to areader may be used for other purposes. As an example, the useridentifier may be used to log the user as arriving to or leaving his orher place of employment. That is, the user identifier is used toclock-in or clock-out the user so that his or her employer may have arecord of when the user arrived and left a work premises. Note that theuser identifier may be associated with authentication information thatmay be used to confirm that the person wearing the ring 52 is in factthe one identified by the user identifier. As an example, as describedabove, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to measure the user'spulse and compare information of the measured pulse to theauthentication information stored by the ring 52 to determine whetherthere is sufficient correlation to authenticate the user. If so, thenthe control circuitry 72 may be configured to provide the useridentifier to the reader. However, if the user is not authenticated, thecontrol circuitry 72 may be configured to refrain from providing theuser identifier. As an example, the control circuitry 72 may insteadprovide a notification that the user wearing the ring 52 is notidentifiable, thereby preventing the identified user as being mistakenlyidentified and entering or leaving the premises.

If access to the employer's premises is restricted, the user identifiermay also be used to determine whether to permit the user entry to therestricted area. If desired, a photograph of the user may be stored inthe ring 52 (e.g., downloaded to the ring 52 by the mobile device 100 orother device), and this image may be communicated to the reader via theNFC transceiver 91 or short-range transceiver 96 when the ring 52 istapped or otherwise positioned sufficiently close to the reader forcommunication. This image may be displayed by a display device connectedto or in communication with the reader so that the identity of the usercan be confirmed by comparing the user to the displayed image. Note thatuse of such an image may also be used at an event or venue to helpconfirm the user's identity before permitting the user to enter theevent or venue. Various other types of uses of the ring 52 are possiblein other embodiments.

As noted above, the ring 52 is just example of a payment device 10 thatmay be used to implement the techniques and configurations describedherein. The techniques and configurations described above may be used inother types of payment devices 10, including both wearable paymentdevices, such as other types of jewelry (e.g., watches, bracelets, andpendants) and non-wearable payment devices, such as payment cards (e.g.,credit cards, debit cards, and cash cards).

FIG. 17 depicts a top view of a conventional tap-enabled card reader 402designed for use with payment cards, such as credit cards, debit cards,or cash cards. The reader 402 has a housing 410 that houses electricalcomponents of the reader 22, including an NFC antenna 414, which may behidden from view by the housing 410. The housing 410 and antenna 414 maybe substantially shaped as a rectangle as shown, though other shapes arepossible. The housing 410 typically has a marker 417 near its center.The marker 417 may be a label, printed matter, or other type of markerhaving graphical or textual markings indicating that the reader 402 istap enabled. That is, the marker 417 indicates to a user that a paymentmay be made by simply positioning an EMV payment device with an NFC chipnear the marker 417. Such marker 417 may encourage a user making apayment to place the center of a payment card near the marker 417.

The NFC antenna 414 is relatively large extending around the perimeterof the reader 402. In addition, the NFC antenna on many conventionalpayment cards is also relatively large. Notably, the field strength atthe center of the antenna 414, which is close to the marker 417, isrelatively weak. Since the NFC antenna on many conventional paymentcards is relatively large, such antenna likely is has one or more pointspositioned close to the antenna 414 of the reader 402 when the paymentcard is positioned close to the marker 417. In this regard, the energyreceived from the reader antenna 414 by the NFC antenna of the paymentcard depends on the size of the card's antenna and its location relativeto the reader antenna 414. For a relatively large card antenna havingpoints positioned close to the reader antenna 414, the receive strengthis relatively good.

However, if a small payment device 10, such as a ring 52 or otherwearable payment device, having a relatively small antenna is positionednear the marker 417, then the receive strength will likely be muchweaker. In this regard, the NFC antenna 96 of the ring 52 or otherwearable device is at a location of relatively low signal strength forthe carrier signal transmitted by the reader antenna 414. Thus, byplacing a ring 52 or other small payment device 10 at the marker 417, asis typically done for conventional payment cards, the communicationperformance between the reader 402 and the ring 52 or other smallpayment device 10 is likely to be poor.

One solution to address this problem is to add a new marker 425 having agraphic or message associated with small payment devices 10, such asrings 52 or other wearable payment devices, as shown for theillustrative reader 22 depicted by FIG. 18. Users of such small paymentdevices 10 may recognize the marker 425 and be encouraged to positiontheir small payment devices 10 near the marker 425 rather than themarker 417, which has a graphic or message associated with conventionalpayment cards. Further, the location of the marker 425 may be selectedsuch that it is near the reader antenna 414. Thus, a user who positionshis or her small payment device close to the marker 425 likely positionsits NFC antenna 96 near the reader antenna 414 thereby improving thecommunication performance between the payment device 10 and reader 22relative to an embodiment for which the small payment device 10 ispositioned near the marker 417.

Another possible solution is to reconfigure the reader antenna 414 suchthat it runs close to the marker 417 or configure the reader 22 with anadditional NFC antenna located near the marker 417. FIG. 19 depicts anembodiment for which an NFC antenna 433 that is smaller than the readerantenna 414 for conventional payment cards is positioned near the marker417. In such embodiment, when a small payment device 10, such as a ring52 or other wearable payment device, is positioned near the marker 417,the NFC antenna 96 of the payment device 10 should be positioned closeto the antenna 433 where the field strength from the antenna 433 isrelatively high. Thus, communication performance between the antenna 96of the payment device and the reader antenna 433 should be relativelygood. In such embodiment, the payment data communicated by the paymentdevice 10 may be received by the antenna 433 and used by the reader 22to perform a payment transaction.

In various embodiments described above, the ring 52 is shown as havingan antenna 96 for NFC and an antenna 97 for a short-range protocol, suchas Bluetooth. However, as noted above, the ring 52 may have any numberof antennas for NFC or other types of communication. FIG. 20 shows anembodiment having an additional NFC transceiver 93 and antenna 98. Insuch embodiment, the NFC transceiver 91 and antenna 96 may be configuredto communicate NFC signals with the payment reader 22 or other NFCdevice using active load modulation, and the NFC transceiver 93 andantenna 98 may be configured to communicate NFC signals with the paymentreader 22 or other NFC device using passive load modulation. In someembodiments, the control circuitry 72 may be configured to select eitheractive load modulation or passive load modulation based on any ofvarious factors and, depending on which mode is selected, enable the NFCtransceiver for the selected mode and disable the other NFC transceiver.Thus, at any time, the ring 52 may perform either passive loadmodulation or active load modulation, but not both so as to preventinterference between the two transceivers 91, 93 (assuming that theyboth communicate at the same frequency). Note that each of the antennas96, 98 may be tuned with the circuit shown by FIG. 6 or other circuitryas may be desired.

As noted above, the selection of which load modulation to use may bebased on any of various factors. For example, such selection may bebased on the amount of energy stored in one or more components of thepower source 81. In this regard, the control circuitry 71 may beconfigured to measure a charge level of the battery 83 and/or othercomponents of the power source 81 and select passive load modulation ifthe measured energy level is below a predefined threshold in order toconserve power. That is, the control circuitry 72 may enable the NFCtransceiver 93, which performs passive load modulation in the instantembodiment, and disable the NFC transceiver 91, which performs activeload modulation in the instant embodiment. Further, when passive loadmodulation is attempted, the control circuitry 72 may be configured todetermine a parameter indicative of the communication quality, such as anumber of errors in the communicated data or amplitude measurement of areceived signal. If the parameter is below a predefined thresholdindicating that the communication quality is less than a desired amount,the control circuitry 72 may be configured to enable active loadmodulation and disable passive load modulation. That is, the controlcircuitry 72 may enable the NFC transceiver 91 and disable the NFCtransceiver 93. Various other techniques and factors for selectivelyenabling the NFC transceivers 91, 93 are possible in other embodiments.

In addition, the antenna 98 may also function as an energy harvestingantenna 98 in the same way as described above for the harvesting antenna88, thereby obviating the need of having a harvesting antenna 88separate from the antennas 96-98. In this regard, when the controlcircuitry 72 selects active load modulation, the control circuitry 72may disable the NFC transceiver 93 from performing passive loadmodulation. In addition, before enabling the NFC transceiver 91 toperform active load modulation, the control circuitry 72 may tune theantenna 98 for optimal energy harvesting according to the techniquesdescribed above, and enable the antenna 98 to provide energy to thepower source 81, as described above for the harvesting antenna 88. Forexample, although not explicitly shown by FIG. 20, the antenna 98 may becoupled to the power source 81 through a switch (not shown) as describedabove for the antenna 89, and this switch may be controlled to enableenergy to flow from the antenna 98 to the power source 81 when energyharvesting is to occur. After harvesting energy for a time, the controlcircuitry 72 may then disable energy harvesting from the antenna 98 andenable the NFC transceiver 91 to perform active load modulation.Notably, antennas used for passive load modulation are often larger thanand can harvest more power than antennas used for active loadmodulation. Thus, it is possible that use of the antenna 98 forharvesting can provide more power relative to antenna 96. If the controlcircuitry 72 instead selects passive load modulation, then the controlcircuitry 72 may tune the antenna 98 for optimization of passive loadmodulation, according to the tuning techniques described above, anddisable the NFC transceiver 91.

Note that, in several embodiments described above, the circuitry of thering 52 is shown as disparate blocks for illustrative purposes. It isunnecessary for the circuitry to be separated or segmented in anymanner, and it is possible for the same set of circuitry to be used formultiple blocks. As an example, the term “circuitry” may be used torefer to any block of circuitry shown by the figures or to refercollectively to multiple blocks. As an example, circuitry may include aprocessor that is programmed with instructions for performing thefunctions described herein. Moreover, the same hardware resources, suchas one or more processors or other types of circuitry, may be used toimplement the functionality of multiple blocks.

The foregoing is merely illustrative of the principles of thisdisclosure and various modifications may be made by those skilled in theart without departing from the scope of this disclosure. The abovedescribed embodiments are presented for purposes of illustration and notof limitation. The present disclosure also can take many forms otherthan those explicitly described herein. Accordingly, it is emphasizedthat this disclosure is not limited to the explicitly disclosed methods,systems, and apparatuses, but is intended to include variations to andmodifications thereof, which are within the spirit of the followingclaims.

As a further example, variations of apparatus or process parameters(e.g., dimensions, configurations, components, process step order, etc.)may be made to further optimize the provided structures, devices andmethods, as shown and described herein. In any event, the structures anddevices, as well as the associated methods, described herein have manyapplications. Therefore, the disclosed subject matter should not belimited to any single embodiment described herein, but rather should beconstrued in breadth and scope in accordance with the appended claims.

1. A wearable payment device for processing payment transactions,comprising: a mold having a cavity, the mold composed of an electricalinsulating material and forming an inner ring for receiving a body partof a user; electrical circuitry positioned in the cavity and configuredto store payment data for a payment transaction, the electricalcircuitry comprising a near field communication (NFC) transceiver; and aconductive shell forming an outer ring for receiving the body part ofthe user, the conductive shell having an inner surface coupled to themold, and the outer ring extending around the inner ring, wherein theconductive shell forms an antenna electrically coupled to the electricalcircuitry, and wherein the NFC transceiver is configured to wirelesslytransmit the payment data via the antenna to a payment reader for thepayment transaction.
 2. A wearable payment device for processing paymenttransactions, comprising: a mold having a cavity; electrical circuitrypositioned in the cavity and configured to store payment data for apayment transaction; and a conductive shell having an inner surface andan outer surface, the inner surface coupled to the mold, wherein theconductive shell forms a first antenna electrically coupled to theelectrical circuitry for wirelessly transmitting the payment data, andwherein the conductive shell forms a ring for receiving a body part of auser.
 3. The wearable payment device of claim 2, wherein the electricalcircuitry comprises a near field communication (NFC) transceiverelectrically coupled to the first antenna, and wherein the NFCtransceiver is configured to transmit an NFC signal carrying the paymentdata via the first antenna.
 4. The wearable payment device of claim 3,wherein the electrical circuitry comprises a second transceiverelectrically coupled to a second antenna, and wherein the secondtransceiver is configured to transmit a wireless signal via the secondantenna to a mobile device.
 5. The wearable payment device of claim 4,wherein the second antenna is within the mold.
 6. The wearable paymentdevice of claim 2, wherein the wearable payment device is a finger ring.7. The wearable payment device of claim 2, wherein the mold forms aninner ring, and wherein the conductive shell forms an outer ringextending around the inner ring.
 8. The wearable payment device of claim2, wherein the conductive shell forms a spiral such that the firstantenna has a plurality of turns.
 9. The wearable payment device ofclaim 2, wherein the electrical circuitry comprises a power source,wherein the first antenna is configured to receive wireless energy, andwherein the electrical circuitry is configured to store the wirelessenergy in the power source.
 10. The wearable payment device of claim 2,wherein the first antenna has a first end and a second end, and whereinthe first end is separated from the second end by a gap.
 11. Thewearable payment device of claim 10, wherein the gap includes anelectrical insulting material.
 12. The wearable payment device of claim10, wherein the gap includes air.
 13. A method for use with a wearablepayment device, comprising: wearing the wearable payment device on auser, wherein the wearing comprises inserting a body part of the userthrough a ring formed by a conductive shell of the wearable paymentdevice; storing payment data for a payment transaction in electricalcircuitry positioned in a mold coupled to an inner surface of theconductive shell; and wirelessly transmitting the payment data from thewearable payment device via a first antenna formed by the conductiveshell to a payment reader for processing of the payment transaction. 14.The method of claim 13, wherein the electrical circuitry comprises anear field communication (NFC) transceiver electrically coupled to thefirst antenna, and wherein the wirelessly transmitting compriseswirelessly transmitting an NFC signal carrying the payment data from theNFC transceiver to the payment reader via the first antenna.
 15. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the electrical circuitry comprises a secondtransceiver electrically coupled to a second antenna, and wherein themethod further comprises transmitting a wireless signal from the secondtransceiver to a mobile device via the second antenna.
 16. The method ofclaim 15, wherein the second antenna is within the mold.
 17. The methodof claim 13, wherein the wearable payment device is a finger ring. 18.The method of claim 13, wherein the mold forms an inner ring, andwherein the conductive shell forms an outer ring extending around theinner ring.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the conductive shellforms a spiral such that the first antenna has a plurality of turns. 20.The method of claim 13, wherein the first antenna has a first end and asecond end, and wherein the first end is separated from the second endby a gap.
 21. The wearable payment device of claim 2, wherein thepayment data includes an account number of a financial account formaking a payment in the payment transaction.
 22. The wearable paymentdevice of claim 2, wherein an outer surface of the mold is coupled tothe inner surface of the conductive shell.
 23. The wearable paymentdevice of claim 2, wherein the first antenna is exposed.
 24. Thewearable payment device of claim 8, wherein the first antenna forms thering and is exposed.
 25. The wearable payment device of claim 2, whereinthe first antenna forms the ring for receiving the body part, whereinthe first antenna has a first end and a second end, and wherein thefirst end is separated from the second end by a gap such that the firstantenna does not form a closed loop.